Henderson Doing It Her Way

Lorne Rubenstein

Lorne Rubenstein

Let me say this straight up: I love the way Brooke Henderson plays golf. That’s a big reason why I spent as much time following her on the telecast of last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich., as I did watching Brooks Koepka win the U.S. Open. Henderson won in Grand Rapids. It was her fourth LPGA Tour win and she did it in her customary unbridled style. What freedom!

It’s as if Henderson, who won’t turn 20 until Sept. 10, goes for everything. But she doesn’t; she’s too smart for that. Her powerful, long swing is under control. She swings hard but under the governance of balance. George Knudson would be so pleased if he were still around. George said, famously, that one should never do anything at the expense of balance.

Henderson does it her way, and who knows, maybe one day she’ll take the Frank Sinatra song ‘My Way’ as her mantra. Why not? Moe Norman loved the song, and he certainly swung his way. Now I’m not saying that Henderson hasn’t had excellent instruction. She has, from Golf Canada’s Tristan Mullally, who has been the coach of Team Canada’s women’s players for going on six years.

Mullally and Henderson no longer work together, as Henderson has declared that her father Dave is her primary instructor now. But Mullally helped Henderson develop and ingrain sound habits and a trust in her unorthodox swing. Mullally must have known that it wouldn’t be a good idea to shorten her backswing, to cite one aspect that is unusual.

Check out her swing if you are so inclined. Henderson grips down on every club, including, to be sure, her 48-inch driver. (That’s the longest allowed under the rules of golf). Her clubhead points to the ground at the end of her backswing, and is far past parallel, pretty well reaching her waist. Every so often you hear a critic say she depends on timing too much to get back to the ball and that it might be a good idea to shorten her backswing.

“You hear about the odd player who gets on the PGA Tour and then makes major changes to his swing and goes on to win majors,” Lietzke, who stayed with his own unusual swing and one shot — a fade — for his entire career, said. He referred particularly to Nick Price and Nick Faldo. They worked with David Leadbetter and went on to win multiple majors.

“But you never hear about the players who are taught right off the tour,” Lietzke added.

Exactly. Any player who has a PGA Tour or LPGA Tour card is gifted. The pressure to not only improve and refine one’s game but to revamp one’s swing can be intense. It’s not always easy to stick to one’s own approach, or to know how far to go in making changes.

When I look at Henderson’s swing I’m also reminded of something Tom Watson said back in late 1979 when I spent some time with him at the Kansas City Country Club, his home course. I was editing Score Magazine — now SCOREGolf of course — as the inaugural issue approached. We were looking for a top player we could feature on the cover. Watson agreed to see me.

He picked me up at the Kansas City airport on a bitterly cold late fall day, and we went to his club. We spoke for a few hours. Inevitably, we discussed the swing. At one point he took a club and made a swing, stopping first at the top of the backswing and then at the end of the swing.

“I don’t care where you are here,” Watson said, meaning the position at the top of his backswing. “And I don’t care where you are here,” he said of the end of the swing.

He then stopped another swing at the bottom, where impact would be. His left wrist was slightly bowed as his clubface lagged behind. He looked at me and said something with an emphasis I can still hear today.

“But you had better be here.”

Henderson gets there, and it’s tremendous to watch, swing after swing after swing. She said after winning in Grand Rapids that her father had advised her of some lines to take off the tee on various holes during the week. She said she wouldn’t have taken these lines had her father not suggested them. Her job was to execute, and to do it her way. Read more about that here.

She did that. She’s not playing this week’s LPGA Tour event. She and her partners Keegan Bradley and Billy Andrade teamed up to win the CVS Health Charity Classic Rhode Island on Monday, the day after her victory in Grand Rapids. She then went to the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club for a media day in advance of the CP Women’s Open there Aug. 24-27.

In the meantime, as in next week, Henderson will try to successfully defend her victory last year at the KPGA Women’s LPGA Championship. The major will be held at Olympia Fields club near Chicago. Henderson said in Ottawa that majors are “very tough mentally,” and they are.

But she’s shown she has the goods to be great. It’s something to think what she has accomplished already, and she’s still only a teenager. Watch her long, powerful swing. Check out the intense focus she brings to every shot.

Here’s hoping she never changes playing the game her way. It’s been the way to win, and her career is only beginning. Quite something to behold.

Lorne Rubenstein

GOLF JOURNAL

The thoughts and opinions of SCOREGolf Magazine’s longtime back page columnist and Canadian Golf Hall of Famer.

Mike Cochrane
June 28, 2017 at 3:53 pm

Nice article on Brooke, unlike you I spent more time watching the LPGA event than the U S Open (no drama).
With Lexi Thompson hot on her heels she made 2 great pressure putts on 16 and 18 for the win.
On a different note, I was just on the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame site reading the biographies of those already enshrined and in my opinion there is an obvious omission in Gail Graham.
Gail won 2 LPGA events finished top 10 in the 4 majors (not including the British Womens) Also won on the Futures Tour (now Symetra) was president of the LPGA. Graham was part of the great Canadian Womens era on the LPGA in the mid to late 90’s with Coe-Jones, Walters, and Tina Tombs.
I know I would love to nominate her but it requires a second and I am only a casual fan.